Absorbent cotton balls and method and apparatus for making the same



July 18, 1961 F. WITSCHI 2,992,458

ABSORBENT COTTON BALLS AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed March 15, 1957 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR fiTF/rz M73664 L a Q Jaw ATTORNE July 18, 1961 F. WITSCHI ABSORBENT COTTON BALLS AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed March 13, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 isr 2/ J T134. 3/ Z5 INVENTOR Ee/rz /7'J ATTORNEY July 18, 1961 F. WITSCHI 2,992,458

ABSORBENT COTTON BALLS AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed March 15, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I NVENTO R fP/rz Warm r ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,992,458 ABSORBENT COTTON BALLS AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING 'THESAIVIE Fritz Witschi, schafi'hausen, Switzerland, .assignor to Johnson & J ohnson, a 'corporationofNew Jersey Filed Mar.- 13, 1957, Ser. No; 645,851 Claims priority, application'switze'rland, Apr. 4, 1956 10 Claims. :(Cl. 19-106) In one method, heretofore used, of manufacturing absorbent cotton balls capable of serving as so-called tampons, a batting of cotton wool of moderate thickness and given length was rolled up and the roll thus produced cut transversely into .a number 10f cotton balls. This mannerof manufacturenot only is cumbersome and comparatively slow, but also has the:disadvantage that the turns of "the cotton balls easily come open.

The method inaccordance with the instant invention avoids such disadvantages and makes possible the continuous manufacture of cotton balls directly from the card. The improvement contemplates that the cotton web, while on a doflfer roll which is provided with card clothing, ."iS cut into strips along its entire width. .Suchfstripsare arranged in pairs directly alongside each other, one strip in each pair being removed from the dofier roll =byone stripping comb While the other strip is removed from the doffer roll by a second stripping comb, each strip then being rolled into a cotton ball.

The apparatus for carrying out of the improved method. is characterized by the fact that for the formation of the strips, there are provided, for each pair of strips,one stripping comb and onetongue resiliently pressing against the doffer roll. The tongue maintains within the sphere of action of the first dofier comb that strip of the pair of strips which is moved further on by the dofi'er roll to the second stripping comb. The apparatus is further characterized in that each comb end, acting on the cotton web, is enclosed on the side away from the doifer roll by a corresponding shell which presents a guide surface to effect a rolling up or convoluting of the web strip as it is stripped by the comb end from the dofier roll. The improved cotton ball itself. is fluify, and substantially homogeneous and absorbent throughout.

The method, apparatus, and improved cotton ball in accordance with the invention will'be described in greater detail below on basis of an illustrative embodiment of the apparatus shown in the attached drawing.

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation, partially in section of a cotton card equipped with the present improvements;

FIG. 2 .is a perspective view of cotton partially rolled up toforma cotton ball;

FIG. 3 illustrates a completed cotton ball formed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial axial section through the dolfer roll and comb;

. FIG. 5 is a transverse section on line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of a doffer roll equipped with the present improvements and looking at the machine from the discharge end thereof; and

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the shells which cooperate to effect the rolling-up of the cotton ball.

Cotton, orother suitable fiber material, from a lap 1 is fed into a card by a feed roll 2 to a lickerin roll 3 from which fibers are picked up (FIG. 1) by a card cylinder '4for transfer'to a doifer roll 10. Since such equipment may be of standard construction, and conventionally equipped and driven,the details thereof willbe familiar to thoseversed in the art and accordingly need not be described.

The doflfer roll 10 is covered on itsperiphery with cus- 2,992,458 Patented July .18, 1-961 2 tomary card clothing 11 consisting for instance of felt from which uniformly distributed card wires 12 extend radially. outwardly (FIGS. 1,4, 5, and 6)). On an axial .zone'f13 of the card clothing over. a center angle of, for

-on the doffer-lroll 10, as it rotates'in a clockwise direction as viewed in the drawings, to a position where a 'first stripping comb 16 is located. At this location, theweb is divided uniformly over its entire Width into strips of which in all cases, one of the strips, arranged directly alongside of each other in pairs, is stripped off the doffer roll by-the first stripping comb 16 and the other of the strips by a second stripping comb 17 and rolled into cotton balls 18. "The combs 16 and- 17 can be swung up and down on dotfer pins 20 and 21 parallel respectively to the axis-offthe roll 19, and are arranged at an angular "distancearound such axis about-60 apart. Conventional comb oscillating equipment at the side of the. machine will serve the purpose of moving the combs up anddown. From a cross-member 22, fixed at its ends in the machine frame and located in a position parallel to the axis 19 of the doifer roll, there extends downwardly between. a

comb plate 24 of the lower comb 16..and the dotfer roll, aplurality of tongues'23 which press resiliently against the dofier roll 10. There is one tongue for each. pairof strips and its Width is such .as to cover that strip. 25 .of the pair of strips in question which is transported further by the doffer ro'll toward the upper comb 17. Each .tongue is located in a vicinity of the comb plate. 24. of the lower comb 16 which is devoid of teeth. The .comb plate 24; however, is provided with teeth 26 on sections fthereof corresponding to spaces between adjacent tongues .23 (FIGS. 5, 6, and 7). In said-spaces, the cotton web-1 5 is stripped from the.dotfer roll by the swingingmotionof the comb 16 and thus divided into the strips.

The comb plate.2;4,- in those-sections thereof which present the teeth 26, is equipped, on-its outer side which faces away from the-dofier roll, with individualshells .27 fastened to the comb plate 24, and which .cover. the

toothed sections26. Each she1l 27 presentsa concave wall 28 defining a pocket which faces .the doffer roll.

The pocket is closed at oneend by a portion of said wall which extends approximately at. a right angle to (the said outer side. of the. toothed end 26 of .thecomb. plate. Each shell 20 is bent at an angle on bothsides so as .to form walls 29 directed at a right angle to thedoffer roll and which define the side walls ofithe pocket. The opposite end of the concave wall 28 or what is the samething, the outer end ofthe pocket, is located beyond thetoothed comb plate by an amount equal to the strokeofthe .comb as it oscillates back and forth. Thus-the web strip. as .it is stripped from the doifer roll by the comb.plate-.24=is continuously deflected in the shell 27. and, .because of its flimsiness, is rolled up upon itself into acotton b all'by the swinging motion of the comb, in conjunctionwith the rotation of the .doffer roll. The cotton ball thus formed is relatively homogeneous due tothe flufi'y nature of the web and due also to the factthat thereis no.tension on the cottonduring the windup operation.

The upper comb -17 is, in similar manner, alsoprovided with a comb plate 30 which, over its entire, len'gth,jhas

toothed sections appropriately 'located for strippingthe Upon rotation," the doifer roll 10 cannot fake over,

at the wire-free zone 13 of the card clothing 11, any card web from the preceding main card roll, so that the web in this zone is interrupted over the entire width of the doffer roll. When this zone moves below the combs 16 and 17, the cotton ball 18 in each shell 27 and 31 respectively, rotates in engagement with the felt clothing of the card with the result that the end of the strip combines with and loses its identity in the rest of the cotton ball. Later, when the polished sheet metal strip 14 arrives adjacent the cotton balls, its lack of adherence for the ball causes the latter to fall out of the shells into a collector or on to a conveyor belt (not shown) which leads them to the packing room. The cross member 22 and the lower comb 16 are covered by an oblique shield 32 fixed on the machine frame and over which the cotton balls roll in dropping from the upper comb. Thereupon the wirecovered card clothing again brings cotton web to the combs where the formation of the cotton balls is repeated.

It will be observed that the absorbent fiber ball made on the improved machine and in accordance with the improved method is quite homogeneous throughout and indeed is devoid of any central hole such as that which customarily results when a ball is wound upon a spindle and the spindle removed. Furthermore, since the sliver is under absolutely no tension during convolution of the layer of carded fibers, a fluflier ball results having greater utility than as a ball of equivalent fiber weight but of greater density.

I claim:

1. Apparatus suitable for forming rolls of cotton directly from a fiber web, and which includes, in combination, a doffer roll rotatable in one direction, a plurality of oscillatable dofi'er combs associated with the doffer roll in spaced relation around the cylindrical surface thereof, a first one of said combs having sections presenting teeth and sections devoid of teeth alternately spaced along its length, and a second one of said combs having sections presenting teeth located, in the direction axially of the roll, correspondingly with the sections devoid of teeth on the first comb, a leaf device associated with said first comb and with the doffer roll at positions intermediate its toothed sections, for retaining the web on the roll at such sections while the webs intermediate such sections is removed from the roll by the oscillation of said first dolfer comb.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein means are provided at each said toothed section of a doffer comb for convoluting the fiber web removed from the dofier roll by such section.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the convoluting means at each said toothed section of a doffer comb is mounted on the doffer comb to move therewith.

4. The method of producing fibrous balls such as balls of cotton or like fibers from a carded Web of such fibers which comprises: dofiing from traveling card clothing a plurality of immediately adjacent strips of a carded web of fibrous material of predetermined length and, in different zones spaced along the travel of the web, rolling a different one of said adjacent strips into balls as it is doffed from the card clothing, and automatically discharging each rolled ball from its respective zone when the full length of its strip has been rolled up.

5. The method of producing fibrous balls such as balls of cotton or like fibers from a carded web of such fibers which comprises: dofiing from traveling card clothing a plurality of pairs of immediately adjacent strips of a carded web of fibrous material of predetermined length and, in difierent zones spaced along the travel of the web, rolling a corresponding strip from each pair of strips into balls as the strip is dotted from the card clothing and automatically discharging each rolled ball from its respective zone when the full length of its strip has been rolled up.

6. The method of producing fibrous balls such as balls of cotton or like fibers from a carded web of such fibers which comprises: forming a web of fibrous material on a traveling card member presenting on its surface a substantial area equipped with card clothing and a lesser area devoid of card clothing extending in an axial direction, dofiing from said card member a plurality of immediately adjacent strips of a carded web of fibrous material and, in different zones spaced along the travel of the web, rolling up said adjacent strips as they are dolfed into balls, and permitting the discharge of the balls from their respective zones as the terminal ends of the strips from which they are formed reach the rolling up zones by the arrival in such zone of the area of the card member devoid of card clothing.

7. Apparatus suitable for forming rolls of cotton directly from a fiber web and which includes, in combination, a dotfer roll rotatable in one direction and having a segment which extends lengthwise of the roll with a relatively large dimension around its cylindrical surface provided with card clothing for conveying a fibrous web, and a segment which likewise extends lengthwise of the roll with a relatively smaller dimension around its cylindrical surface devoid of card clothing, and a plurality of oscillatable doffer combs associated with the dofier roll in spaced relation around the cylindrical surface thereof, a first one of said combs having sections presenting teeth and sections devoid of teeth alternately spaced along its length, and a second one of said combs having sections presenting teeth in corresponding locations with the sections devoid of teeth on the first comb, said doffer combs acting at said toothed sections and upon rotation of the doifer roll to strip from the doffer roll a web of fibers equivalent in length to the length around the relatively large cylindrical segment thereof provided with card clothing.

8. Apparatus suitable for forming rolls of cotton directly from a fiber web and which includes, in combination, a doffer roll rotatable in one direction and having a segment which extends lengthwise of the roll with a relatively large dimension around its cylindrical surface provided with card clothing for conveying a fiber web, and a segment which likewise extends lengthwise of the roll with a relatively smaller dimension around its cylindrical surface devoid of card clothing, and a plurality of dolfer devices associated with the dofier roll in spaced relation around the cylindrical surface thereof, a first one of said doifer devices having along its length alternately spaced sections respectively operable and inoperable to remove strips of the fiber web from the doifer roll, and a second one of said dofier devices having operable sections located, in a direction axially of the roll, correspondingly with the inoperable sections on the first dofier device, said doifer devices acting at said operable sections and upon rotation of the doffer roll to strip from the doffer roll a web of fibers equivalent in length to the length around the relatively large cylindrical segment thereof provided with card clothing.

9. Apparatus suitable for forming rolls of cotton directly from a fiber web which includes, in combination, a doifer roll rotatable in one direction, a plurality of doffer devices associated with the dolfer roll in spaced relation around the cylindrical surface thereof, a first one of said dofier devices having along its length alternately spaced sections respectively operable and inoperable to remove strips of the fiber web from the dofier roll, a second one of said doffer devices having operable sections located, in a direction axially of the roll, correspondingly with the inoperable sections on the first dolfer device, and a leaf device associated with said first dotfer device and with the dofier roll at positions corresponding to the inoperable sections therealong for retaining a strip of the web on the roll at such sections while a strip of the web at positions corresponding to the operable sections therealong are removed from the roll by the operation of the leading doifer device.

10. Apparatus suitable for forming rolls of cotton directly from a fiber web and which includes, in combination, a doifer roll rotatable in one direction and having a segment which extends lengthwise of the roll with a relatively large dimension around its cylindrical surface provided with card clothing for conveying a fiber Web, and a segment which likewise extends lengthwise of the roll with a relatively smaller dimension around its cylindrical surface devoid of card clothing, a plurality of dofler devices associated with the dofier roll in spaced relation around the cylindrical surface thereof, a first one of said doffer devices having along its length alternately spaced sections respectively operable and inoperable to remove strips of the fiber web from the doffer roll, a second one of said doffer devices having operable 15 dotfer roll a web of fibers equivalent in length to the length around the relatively large cylindrical segment thereof provided with card clothing, and said shell means acting as the strips of fiber web are removed from the dofier roll to receive the same in the pockets thereof and to convolute the web strip into aroll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 55,881 McDonald June 26, 1866 224,980 Wright .Feb. 24, 1880 810,136 Green Ian. 16, 1906 810,138 Green Jan. 16, 1906 853,854 Ainley May 14, 1907 1,727,393 Cady Sept. 10, 1929 1,833,811 Allen et al. Nov. 24, 1931 2,146,985 Rabell Feb. 14, 1939 2,340,311 Donovan Feb. 1, 1944 2,388,030 Beaudoin Oct. 30, 1945 2,703,439 Dole et al. Mar. 8, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 424,5:15 Great Britain Feb. 22, 1935 

